


The Dream

by Beautiful_Doom



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Dreams, Grindelwald's Awful Tricks, Hallucinations, Slow Loss of Sanity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 05:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14013180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Doom/pseuds/Beautiful_Doom
Summary: Grindelwald uses a creative but very cruel way to keep Percy from escaping. Percy struggles not to lose his mind while he deals with the aftermath. But what is real and what is just a dream?





	1. Awakening

The man was back again.

Percy never could see him very clearly. He was always surrounded by some kind of shadow or smoke that blurred his features. Percy did manage to pick out the spiked blonde hair, but not much else. What was more unsettling was that no one else seemed to see the man. Only Percy.

He never stayed long, just a minute or two at most. Enough for Percy to see him, and then he’d vanish. Percy was worried because he could swear he somehow recognized the man, but every time he tried to remember it always came up blank.

His wife Josephine told him he was probably working too hard again. He couldn’t really be blamed. His job as the Director of Magical Security was very harsh. It called for a lot of his attention and energy, but it was worth it. He kept the streets safe from low life thugs and criminals, and it allowed him to sleep easier at night knowing his children would be safe.

Alice was only eight now, and Charlie was old enough to start Ilvermorney next term. He’d received his letter and was very excited to go. They had all gone out as a family to help him shop for supplies, laughing and talking about Charlie’s future. The little boy was still too young to really choose anything yet, but he already had high hopes to make it big in the world. Percy made sure to tell him that he could choose any path he liked.

But then the man was back again.

He seemed to be coming more often now, plaguing Percy’s dreams and standing right at the corner of Percy’s vision. His own personal phantom to haunt him and bring him down. But Percy would rise above. 

In desperation, he consulted Picquery. The president was sympathetic in his plight, but had never heard of such a thing.

“Perhaps you’re working too hard,” she said. “I’m going to give you some time off. I want you to spend it resting and getting better.”

“Sera, I’m fine-”

“Percival, no. Something’s going on, and I don’t like it. I want you to take this time off and relax. Spend some time with your family. Your son will be leaving soon, won’t he?” Picquery smiled fondly. “Besides, we haven’t had much trouble lately. Disturbances are down and things have been very quiet.”

Percy couldn’t argue with her, so he thanked her and left. Perhaps they were all right. He just needed to relax and spend some time at home. Alice had been asking to go to the zoo, and he could no longer deny her. They would spend some time together before Charlie left for school, and then everything would be ok again.

Right?

Everything did seem ok at first. Percy took his time off of work and the family went out on outings to the stores or parks or beaches. Percy seemed to fall in love with his family all over again, and nothing could ever make him feel as happy as these days.

Plus, the man stopped showing up.

The night before Charlie was set to leave, Percy was tucking his children into bed, kissing their brows and reading them stories. Charlie had packed his trunk and Alice was clutching her teddy bear. He turned off the lights and went to join Josephine in bed.

“Are they finally in bed?” She asked, setting her book aside. “It’s going to be so hard to let Charlie go.”

“I know, dear,” Percy kissed her. “It will always be hard, but Charlie’s very excited.” 

He leaned in to kiss her again, but paused when something felt odd. He leaned back to see his wife’s face… melting. Turning black and melting. In fact, her whole body was, but she was still sitting there peacefully and not saying a word.

“Josephine!” He had no idea what could be happening. He called his wand, but it did not come. He used his magic, but nothing happened. Josephine was melting into the bed, and then suddenly the floor cracked! The crack deepened and moved up the walls. Pieces of plaster and wood and brick began to fall around him.

The children!

Percy got up and rushed down the hall. Cracks were forming everywhere, and the house seemed to be collapsing. Percy pushed open the door to the children’s room, but the beds were empty.

“No!” He shouted, ripping the sheets off and moving the beds. “No! Alice! Charlie!” The floor behind him collapsed, and left behind a gaping hole of pitch black. This was all wrong. It had always been wrong, but why? The floor gave way beneath him and he plunged into the darkness.

“Mr. Graves! Mr. Graves, can you hear me! Please, wake up!”

Percy heard her. Who was she? He knew her somehow…

“Mr. Graves!”

And then Percy woke up.

It all came rushing back so quickly that he was dizzy at first. Slowly, his mind began to sort through it all as people began to poke and prod at him.

“Josephine?” He asked in a horse voice. “Alice? Charlie?”

Faces swam into view. Recognition came afterward. Aurors. His aurors. People were running and shouting orders, pulling him from a bed with glowing sheets and pillows. The magic from them reeked of darkness and corruption. It had all been fake. A dream. He had no family. No wife, no children, nothing was peaceful. He wouldn’t be sending letters to Charlie. He wouldn’t be taking Alice to the zoo again. He wouldn’t kiss Josephine's lips again.

It had all been a wonderful dream that had given way to his cold reality.

“No… no! No! WHY?! WHY DID YOU WAKE ME?! Put me back! PUT ME BACK NOW! Josephine! My darling!” Percy began to thrash and curse, trying to get back into the bed, trying to get back to the life he’d had in the dream world.

“Someone sun him now!”

And then he was hit and it all went black. He smiled, knowing he’d be back with his family. Back with them in his dreams.

But his family was not there…


	2. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy tries to get help for his condition

“Tell me about Josephine.”

Percy looked up from where he was sitting on the leather couch. The mind healer adjusted her glasses and looked at him with cool indifference. He recognized the expression as he wore one too. They had sent him here after finding him at Grindelwald’s mercy, lost in a dream.

“She was my wife,” he said. “In the dream.”

“And what did she look like?” Again with that neutral tone.

“I… she had brown hair,” Percy said softly. “It was lighter than her wand. She kept it pulled back during the day, but at night…” he inhaled slowly. Oh, he had spent many a night nuzzling those waves of soft flower scented hair. He cleared his throat. “She had blue eyes. They were the kindest eyes I’d ever seen. I remember… I could always see her love for me in them.”

The mind healer slowly nodded, making a few notes.

“And the children?” She asked. “You said two names… Charlie and Alice,” She consulted her patient notes. “I’m guessing they were young?”

“Charlie was starting school,” said Percy. “Alice… she was younger. I was there at her birth. Josephine held her in those little blankets and… I had been so happy. I was crying. I had a stuffed bear for Alice. I’d spent all day building the crib. Josephine had knit the blankets herself…” He trailed off again, closing his eyes and hearing that night. 

_The soft sounds of a newborn baby._

_Josephine cooing and sniffling._

_“Oh, Percy! She’s beautiful! Look, she’ll have your eyes. I can tell. She’s going to be great one day. She’ll change the world…”_

“Mr. Graves?”

Percy opened his eyes again. The mind healer was right in front of him with her hand on his shoulder.

“Mr. Graves, are you ok?”

He took a breath and felt a tear fall from his cheek. His nose sniffled as he breathed, and another tear fell. When had he started crying?

“I… I’m…” Percy’s mouth closed and he gripped his knees, feeling his shoulders quiver. “I’m sorry…”

The session hadn’t gone much better after that.

Later, Percy was walking home, too depressed and distracted to disapparate. The doctor had suggested he take time off from MACUSA to work on clearing out the false memories. But staying in his home seemed to make them worse. More than once he could swear he smelled Josephine’s cooking, or hear Charlie and Alice racing through the halls with their toys. At night he had waited for nearly an hour to use the bathroom before remembering that Josephine was not there to take her evening bath.

Percy had wanted to just throw himself into his work, and he was determined to. Unlike the dreamworld, this world was still very much in the midst of chaos and crime. He hadn’t been able to read the previous reports before they’d been seized for examination. Grindelwald’s work while wearing his face was being closely reviewed for anything pertaining to his cause.

This put stress on Percy, and with everything else going on, he was beginning to wear thin and ragged… and he was beginning to yearn to go back to the dream. Pride be damned, he’d been happy there. That had been the greatest insult, and the biggest thing that upset him, that he had been happier stuck in a dream while Grindelwald’s captive than he was out here in reality and freedom.

But every time the yearning came back, he would shake his head and force it away. Grindelwald would not win. He would not break. He kept his steps strong and determined as he climbed the steps to his home. He was starving and ready for dinner.

He opened the door and locked it behind him with a sigh. he shed his coat and scarf, working on the knot of his tie as he walked down the short hallway.

“Josephine? I’m home…” He undid the tie and let it hang on his shoulders. “What a day I had…” he stopped at the kitchen and felt like a chunk of ice had slid into his stomach. The kitchen was empty. There was no food on the stove, no Josephine carrying it to the dining room, no Charlie or Alice begging to lick the mixing spoon for the cake.

It was empty.

He’d forgotten. Again.

He swallowed thickly, forcing himself away from the kitchen and to go back to the door. He wasn’t hungry anymore. He wasn’t tired anymore. In fact, he decided he was going to go for a long walk in the park.

He thought he heard someone call his name as he closed the door, but he ignored it and stepped back into the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like it so far. Comments give me life.


	3. His Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queenie and Tina get a glimpse of what kind of false life Grindelwald had given Graves

To Tina, it was like watching a great wampus whither away and die. Graves’s health seemed to be declining as he obviously was not sleeping well. Tina could barely get the man to eat too. Every time she offered food, he would refuse and say ‘Josephine is bringing something.’ She would never say anything after that because his eyes would get wide and sad and then his face would fill with rage and he would go back to whatever report he was working on. 

Tina would wordlessly leave him the food anyway.

She had no idea what was going on in his mind, but Queenie seemed to. In his efforts to push the dream and false memories away, it was taxing his mental shields and gave Queenie access. The first time, Tina had found her sister crying in a corner.

“Oh Teeny, it’s awful! How could that horrid man do such a thing to Mr. Graves?” She sobbed, taking the tissue that Tina offered. “I saw them. I saw the memories. I saw the dream. It’s so sad!”

Tina didn’t want to know about them. She didn’t want to know about the dream out of respect for her boss, but now that she was working closely with him she felt she should know in case anything happened. She sat next to her sister and sighed.

“Tell me what you saw, Queens,” she said softly. Her auror tone, as Queenie called it. She knew that tone well. After a few sniffles, she wiped her eyes and took a breath.

“A wife and two little ones,” she said. “They were… so happy. Mr. Graves was so happy to have a family. He’d wanted one for so long. He still does. He never let himself have one cuz of his job, but… he always wanted one and he feels so lonely.”

She shook her head.

“That man gave Mr. Graves everything he wanted. Everything he don’t have in this life. Mr. Graves had it for so long in that dream. Year, Teeny. His dream seemed to go for years! Imagine…”

“How does he feel now?” Tina asked. Still with that auror tone…

“He’s… he’s so conflicted,” said Queenie. “He knows he should be happy to be free again, and he knows it was all a lie, but…” she trailed off.

“But…” Tina prompted gently. She slid an arm around Queenie’s shoulders, pulling her close to reassure her and ground her. To comfort her. It must be hell for her sister to have to see all of this in Graves’s head.

“He… he sometimes wishes he could go back to it,” said Queenie. “He misses them. He misses them all. Josephine, Charlie, Alice… he wants to see them again.”

Tina bit her lip and pat Queenie’s shoulder.

“We’ll help him.” she said. “We’re going to help him get better. Grindelwald won’t win. I promise.”

“Teeny,” Queenie sniffled. “I don’t think we can.”

——

Graves stared up at his house, wondering why it was so dark. His stomach rumbled and he wondered why he was so hungry. He always ate breakfast with his children. Josephine always brought him lunch. So why was-

Oh.

Right.

He shook his head. He hadn’t eaten today. No one was home. No one was ever home. He lived alone. Why did that hurt so much? He’d never thought of it much before. Sure, he had those nights where loneliness set in, but it was never for long. Then again.. addicts are not created without the taste of a drug. He’d tasted happiness. Real happiness. Happiness that was so wonderful it nearly hurt.

And then he’d had it taken away in a flash.

His aurors had pulled him from the swamp of Grindelwald’s magic and put him back on his true path. It had been what he’d wanted for so long when Grindelwald had been torturing him, but now… now he didn’t know what to feel. He was haunted by ghosts that never existed. Emotions he’d never felt. A woman he’d never married, and children he’d never sired.

He’d been brought to his knees by phantasms.

With a growl, Graves clenched his fists. He’d been feeling so wrong lately. So disconnected. It was all Grindelwald’s fault, but he couldn’t help but feel he was somewhat to blame as well. If only he were stronger, more resilient. Oh, he was so weak!

Graves shook his head and marched back down the street. He’d stay in a hotel tonight. Hopefully he wouldn’t feel ghostly touches or hear whispered words there…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like it so far. Comments give me life.


	4. The Shawl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A horrible prank is played on Graves

Things were still tense in the bullpen. All the aurors knew what happened mostly because the aurors were such a tightknit group that word always spread from one side to the other before anyone quelled it with words about privacy. Of course out of respect, the issue was never discussed after the aurors were told not to gossip.

But the damage was already done in that everyone was walking on eggshells, worried that Graves would have some kind of fit, and that perhaps their boss wasn’t as well and healthy as he liked to say.

Despite the occasional slip ups, Graves seemed to be doing better. There were less mentions of his ‘family’, but anyone could argue it was more Graves keeping himself from mentioning the than Graves not having any hallucinations. Still, his aurors were worried and most were doing everything they could to take care of Graves. Some aurors would offer parts of their lunch or dinner or even breakfast to Graves, who would accept if only he hated it when people wasted food. Others offered their help with more cases, decreasing the workload that lay on Graves’s shoulders.

With everyone working together, things did seem to get better around the bullpen and with Graves himself. But any auror worth his salt was nervous. In their line of work, things didn’t go well for long and often resulted in some kind of explosion of misfortune.

And one day that was exactly what happened.

To be fair, it didn’t happen until Percy had gone to lunch. Tina and Queenie had been working on getting him out of the office. Queenie had suggested that having lunch in the cafeteria would help remind him where he was. It had seemed to be working. After they ate, Graves returned to his office. Tina hadn’t even been able to get back to her desk before she heard a loud crash within.

With a start, she turned to Graves’s door, reaching for her wand, but the door was thrown open and Tina gasped. She had seen her boss angry before, and it was scary enough, but this… Graves looked like a man possessed and it was terrifying. His eyes were wide and wild, twitching slightly in rage. His mouth couldn’t decide between pressing its lips into a thin line or baring its teeth like a beast. He had a white knuckled and shaking grip on… a shawl?

A woman’s shawl.

“WHO PUT THIS IN MY OFFICE?!” Graves looked at his arurors, screeching with a broken voice full of rage and terror. “WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKERS PUT THIS IN MY OFFICE?! YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE?! A FUCKING JOKE?!” 

The aurors backed away, some looking terrified, some trying to signal for someone to go get Picquery, and others had hands straying to their wand holsters.

“Mr. Graves, calm down-” Tina tried to speak.

“When I find who did this… a demotion will be the least of their worries,” Graves growled. His magic flared like heat and pressure, and the aurors were exchanging looks and drawing wands-

“Mr. Graves!” It was a new voice that called out, accompanied by the sound of clacking heals. Queenie marched right across the bullpen, the aurors trying to grab her as she made her way to Graves-

SMACK!

The aurors watched her with slack jaws as she slapped Graves right across the face. Some of his hair dislodged from the neat slicked back look, but the anger was fading and his grip on the shawl relaxed. Queenie could hear his jumbled thoughts giving way to panic, so she took him by the arm and drug him back into his office.

“Teenie!” She called to her sister. Tina followed them, shutting the door behind her. 

“I don’t get it,” she said as Queenie ushered Graves to a chair. “It’s just a shawl.”

“It’s not just a shawl!” Queenie said, helping Graves sit down.

“It’s her shawl,” Graves whimpered, eyes already tearing up. Tina felt a shiver pass down her spine. Josephine’s shawl? She had never heard Graves mention a shawl, or anyone else for that matter. How could anyone have known about it? Who had been heartless enough to put an exact replica in Graves’s office?

“Mr. Graves, you’re ok…” Queenie tried to soothe the man as he began to wheeze and gasp, tears pouring down his face, rocking back and forth with the shawl pressed to his chest.

“Mr. Graves… look at me,” Queenie knelt down to make eye contact. “You’re not going crazy. I can see the shawl too. Someone played a cruel joke. They shouldn’t have done that. You’re ok. Here, breathe with me.”

Tina let Queenie help Graves out, knowing the legilimens would be able to help him with his panic better than she could. Still, not wanting to be useless, she spotted the pot of tea from breakfast on Graves’s desk. She used a spell to heat it up.

“There we are,” Queenie, carefully took the shawl and set it aside, watching Graves’s breathing. He slowly managed to calm down enough to take the tea Tina offered.

“She… she didn’t leave it here? She often forgot it…” Graves said softly. He looked at the soft material. Blues, greens, and purples wove and twisted to depict flowers and and flowing designs. “I gave it to her…. on our tenth anniversary. She… she was so happy. She loved it so much and wore it all the time.” He sobbed. “It even smells like her!”

He collapsed into fresh sobs, covering his face with his hands while Queenie comforted him. To Tina it was one of the worst sights she'd ever seen. It made her ill, and she decided she never wanted to see something like it again.

—

Picquery was livid when she found out, and she ordered an investigation to see who had done it. The shawl was tugged out of Graves’s semi-unwilling hands and taken for testing. The heartbreak in his eyes only fueled Picquery’s rage. She swore that she would bring her friend back from this abyss. She would find away to dispel the dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like it so far. Comments give me life.


	5. The Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graves's hallucinations take a frightening turn

Picquery had tried to send Graves home with a few days off because of the whole ordeal, but Graves refused to let himself be beat. He kept coming to work, and he drilled his aurors like he always had before. He didn’t mention the shawl, and no one ever found out what had happened to it.

Once again, things had settled down to a tentative quiet around the department. The only difference was Graves’s aurors could be seen glaring at the other workers, positive someone there had been the one to play the joke on their boss. They also worked even harder to help him cheer up and invite him out to their little gatherings. Their boss needed the camaraderie, and they’d give him all he wanted.

For Graves, his little hell hadn’t gotten any better. It was getting harder and harder to sleep at night. He kept waking up, swearing the other side of the bed was warm from where someone had been sleeping. Other times he heard children running through the halls. The worst was one night when he’d gotten up to accompany Alice to the kitchen because she needed a glass of water and was terrified of the dark.

His house was no longer the little sanctuary he had built himself. The fortress against his enemies. If anything, it was making things worse. Of course, his pride and stubbornness demanded he sleep there and not a hotel. He’d lost so much to Grindelwald. Like hell was he going to lose his sanctuary too.

It was late one night when he woke up abruptly. Something was wrong. It was so quiet. Unnaturally quiet. He took his wand from under his pillow and lit it, looking around as he go out of bed. he flinched when he heard someone humming softly. A chill ran down his spine as he recognized the sound.

Josephine’s voice. It was her humming.

Graves fled from the room, slamming the door behind him. Dammit, why couldn’t they just leave him alone? Why did they torment him? What was even happening that he heard these things?

He pressed himself against the wall as he heard laughing and footsteps running towards him. They passed by, and he heard Alice tell Charlie that she was going to win their race. Hand trembling, Graves quickly rushed to the stairs and descended them. He ran to the front door and tried to open it. It held firm, and no spell unlocked it or opened it.

Graves looked around. He had to get out of here before he lost what sanity he had left. He was breathing heavily, trying to remain calm, shining his lit wand around for something he could use to break the door-

What was that?

He looked again. It was a familiar specter. A man made of shadows with that leering grin and those wide piercing eyes. Graves remembered him from the dreams. He was here. He was going to put Graves back into the dream.

“You stay away!” He yelled, pointing his wand at the apparition. “You can’t have me! I won’t go back!” He felt a cold seep into his limbs, slowly sapping his strength. The shadowman began to come closer, and Graves gasped, pressing himself back against the door. 

He couldn’t cast a defensive spell. His family was upstairs. If anything bad happened they could get hurt or worse. He spotted some of the kids’ toys off to the side. He grabbed them and began to throw them at the shadowman, but nothing worked. It kept coming closer and closer, reaching out for him. Graves had picked up a toy rabbit of Alice’s. He had to. He had no other choice.

“Get back!” He roared, waving his wand to cast a spell…

Tina apparated in an alley, rushing around the corner and down the street. A no-maj had called the fire department about a house catching fire. Not their jurisdiction, but the address had been for Graves. She had to check on him, so she’d rushed off on her own. Where was he? Was he ok?

The whole house was ablaze and the firemen were working to extinguish it. She stopped and gasped, thinking the worst. Had Graves made it out? Was he trapped inside? He need help!

Before she could move closer, she heard someone humming. It was coming from another alleyway. It sounded familiar…

Graves!

She looked down the alley, seeing Graves leaning against the wall, humming and petting something against his chest.

“Mr. Graves!” She ran to him and shook his shoulder. “Mr. Graves, what happened? Are you ok? How did your house catch fire?”

But Graves was staring off and didn’t answer, still humming.

Tina carefully shook him again.

“Mr. Graves? Can you hear me? Mr. Graves, what’s wrong?” She looked closer at what he was petting and had to stifle a scream. It was a dead rabbit with a pink bow tied around its neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like it so far. Comments give me life.


	6. Picquery Calls for Newt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picquery tries to get Newt to help with Percy

This wasn’t the first time that Serafina Picquery had no idea what to do. She could hardly be expected to know everything, even as the President. That’s what advisers were for. That’s what department heads were for. They were there to help her with problems like this.

The problem itself was Percival Graves. She’d gotten word from her aurors about the fire at his house. The muggle firemen had been quick to blame faulty wiring, but the signs of spellwork were easy to spot. Percy himself hadn’t said much about what had happened. He’d mumbled and whimpered, clutching a dead rabbit like a child would their teddy.

Now she was watching Percy through the window of his patient room at a hospital. The healers had said that he was just fine physically, but mentally… well they were still running tests. They had discussed treatment options. The most suggested one was simply erasing the false memories in his head, but they had also said it carried the biggest risk for brain damage considering how much they would have to erase. According to Percy, he had years and years of false memories. To erase them all… could erase him as well.

But Picquery refused to give up. She owed it to Graves after letting Grindelwald wear his face for so long. She owed it to Graves for all the times he had saved her life or helped her out of a tough situation. She owed it to him as her boss and close friend. She’d let him down before, but she wouldn’t do it now.

“Ah… Madame President? I got your letter and came straight away,” A voice came from nearby, and she turned to see Newt Scamander standing beside her. He looked just as she remembered: messy ginger curls, rumpled and slightly dirty clothes, and of course his infamous suitcase. He gripped it in both hands, letting it hang before him.

“Mr. Scamander,” she nodded her greeting. “Thank you for coming. This is a very… sensitive matter that I need your help with.”

“I did read your letter,” Newt glanced into the room and frowned. “You said Grindelwald had implanted false memories into his brain. Years worth, invented a new family, a new life. I must say I’ve never heard of anyone doing this before.”

“Well…” Picquery looked through the window too. “Grindelwald has a knack for creativity. I called you here because of something you have that I want to use on Percy. The venom you used the last time you were here that obliviated all of New York. I wanted you to use some of it on Percy to have it erase the memories Grindelwald implanted. The healers say using standard spells are a risk for brain damage.”

If at all possible, Newt’s grip on his suitcase became tighter. He looked at Picquery with an appalled expression. Did she really ask him to do that? The venom was still highly experimental. It was more a fluke it had worked last time. There were too many unknown variables to do this. She must have gotten very desperate…

“I…what? Madame President… surely you’re joking,” he smiled nervously. “This venom is still experimental. It’s theorized to remove bad memories, but those memories are determined bad or good by the person it’s being used on. We have no idea what memories will be erased and which will stay. Perhaps he would deem these memories good and then it wouldn’t-”

“Mr. Scamander, I did not ask for your opinion,” Picquery said in a cold voice. She turned her even colder eyes towards the other, expression set and determined. “I am asking you to do this for me. Mr. Graves is getting worse and the healers are stumped as to how to treat him. We are running out of time and options.”

“I… no. I’m very sorry, but no.” Newt moved the suitcase behind him as if he were afraid Picquery would snatch it away from him like last time. “I cannot in good conscious do this to this man. There are too many risks and too many unknowns. Perhaps after the venom is studied more thoroughly-”

“If you refuse to assist us I will have your case impounded again,” Picquery interrupted again. She really was desperate. This could very well be her only hope for getting Percy back. Her only chance to save him.

But oh, she had made a mistake.

Newt’s expression changed. His posture changed. The very air around him changed. He straightened up, shoulder’s back, chin up and resolute. His eyes and expression grew hard and cold enough to rival Picquery’s own. The temperature around him dropped several degrees.

“Madame President,” he said in a authoritative tone. “I am refusing to assist you with this lunacy. I wish for Mr. Graves to be cured and treated, but I will not endanger his life. Not even on your orders.”

“My aurors will-”

“They will do nothing,” This time Newt was the one who interrupted. “They can’t do anything. I have permits for all of my creatures and all of my spells, courtesy of the Minister of Magic. I am here on your request, and if you try anything with my creatures it will be considered an affront on both myself and the Ministry. I very much doubt you can afford an international incident right now. It’s my respect for Mr. Graves, Tina, and Queenie, that will keep me from reporting the threat you just made against me. Now if you will excuse me, I have a pair of lovely sisters to visit. Good day to you, Madame President.”

He turned on his heel and left without another word, leaving a stunned Picquery behind. When had Scamander grown a backbone. Every file she ever read on him painted him as a shy pushover. It was supposed to be his brother who was the courageous one. Regardless, she had lost and she knew it. She couldn’t touch Scamander if he had permits, and an incident really was the last thing she needed.

Picquery sighed, fury rushing through her. What could she do now? What could anyone do now? The healers said they may have more answers later, but there was no guarantee. 

It wasn’t the first time she had no idea what to do, but it was the first time no one else had an answer for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you like it so far. Comments give me life.


End file.
